- - What is a Muppy?
(http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/livebearers/what-muppy-66900/)

froggle1

04-02-2011 03:47 PM

What is a Muppy?

I watched a video on youtube about fish called " muppies". They were a hybrid guppy and molly. They had heads like guppies but bodies like mollies. Does anyone know where you can buy these "mysterious muppies?" (If they are real, not a deformed fish being filmed):-)

DKRST

04-04-2011 08:36 PM

Mollies and guppies are not closely related fish. There have been instances of hybrids but the hybrids seem to be always males(?) and are certainly infertile. I'm not sure how "sturdy" the hybrids would be.

justinianobrenden

05-03-2011 08:31 PM

you have to breed them they arent really easy to breed so they are rarely in fish stores, get a ten gallon with like 2 male uppies and 5-6 female mollies try and go to a breeder so they mollies arent pre hit and the males will eventually try n mess with the mollies and bam she has muppies, it is possible cuz they are in the same family and they will be fertile offspring but since it is not naturally occuring you cant find them in petstores but its possible to create this breed... you can breed these three together: mollies, gupies, and endlers and you want the female to be the bigger species otherwise if a molly inpregnates a guppy the fry will be bigger and kill the guppy during birth, same goes for sworttails and platys those two can mix with eachother

LasColinasCichlids

05-03-2011 08:45 PM

It usually isnt a fish combo sought after, as the muppies are infertile and unable to reproduce. It is also questionable on whether or not deformities happen or if their life span is impacted at all.

The other posters are correct when saying to use a male guppy and female molly, as the birth can and will kill a female guppy.

Pet stores dont sell these mutts because they cant reproduce, so there isnt a way to continue to breed a strain.

LasColinasCichlids

05-03-2011 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinianobrenden
(Post 664889)

you have to breed them they arent really easy to breed so they are rarely in fish stores, get a ten gallon with like 2 male uppies and 5-6 female mollies try and go to a breeder so they mollies arent pre hit and the males will eventually try n mess with the mollies and bam she has muppies, it is possible cuz they are in the same family and they will be fertile offspring but since it is not naturally occuring you cant find them in petstores but its possible to create this breed... you can breed these three together: mollies, gupies, and endlers and you want the female to be the bigger species otherwise if a molly inpregnates a guppy the fry will be bigger and kill the guppy during birth, same goes for sworttails and platys those two can mix with eachother

I thought it was worth mentioning that there is a lot of readily available fish breeds or hybrids that are not naturally occuring... biggest examples are Blood Red Parrot Cichlids... males are infertile, yet the females eggs can be fertilized by a few other cichlids that it is thought these guys are a hybrid of.

Most endler's livebearers you see in Petsmart and Petco are usually a hybrid between a cobra guppy and an endler...sometimes sold under only the endler name, which is very misleading.

There are plenty of hybrids... a lot of albino fish and long finned versions of fish are a type of hybrid as it requires special breeding of certain strains to continue the color and longer fins, that wouldnt generally happen in the wild.

GloFish arent naturally occurring, but they are sold by the masses. Pot Belly & Balloon Mollies arent naturally occuring, they are hybrids... the ballooning being a deformation.

People are always trying to create hybrids to sell as they tend to breed them for better colorations so people will buy them verses the natural colors of the fish. Of course this breeding takes a toll on the natural life the wild caught and first generations of these fish would normally have.

And regardless of the controversial views of hybrid fish, they continue to sell and usually cost more than the "normal" fish, despite the drawbacks.

Mikaila31

05-03-2011 09:10 PM

Yep it is confirmed that they are infertile and hard to get in the first place. While they are in the same family that has nothing to do with them being able to hybridize. Two species need to be from the same genus and even then your chances are low. There are 23 species in that genus and to be fair they are all called 'mollies' collectively except guppies and endlers. Most mollies you get at a shop are not a pure species to start will really....

Though it can happen its clear it is not worth doing in any sense. Swordtails and platies make fertile crosses and are readily hybridized in fish farms so much none of the common aquarium strains I would consider pure species. Being able to viably cross guppies and mollies would be a great economical benefit to fish farms.... basically if they could do it they would be doing it.

also albinos, long-finned fish, glofish, ballonfish, ect.... these are not hybrids. Hybrid must be a cross of two species. All the following fish are considered same species as the normal variety. The only difference is a mutation in those fish. To be fair lots of common fish are mutated. Though generally we call it artificial selection or genetic modification depending on the process. Even your normal strains, lyertail molly, golden molly, koi swordtail, ect. all just show mutations. There is a big difference between a strain or variety within a species and a hybrid amongst two species.

justinianobrenden

05-04-2011 10:24 PM

oh ya i forgot bout the ten gallon well ive been talkin to one of my friends n they said they have fertile muppies that breed with eachother or he has some weird strain of mollies that look like muppies but he got a set up with a few female mollies and a very active male gupy he got all from breeders none were pre hit and after a couple months they bred i guess n he got muppues and seperated the muppies into a different setup and he claimed tht the muppies also had babies and he sent a picture of the adult puppies and the fry they "had" so idk

LasColinasCichlids

05-05-2011 12:35 AM

Eh, I'd be doubtful over the muppies reproducing. It hasnt been documented as far as I am aware of. And if he managed to be the first, he would be making aquaria history, lol.

Mikaila31

05-05-2011 01:11 AM

haha he's also destroying the fundamentals of genetics;-)

justinianobrenden

05-05-2011 01:12 AM

holy crap is that a shark?! :) idk maybe he is ful of crap? wuld it be possible for another guppy or mollly to inpregnate a muppy or visa versa?